As prospective students across the country prepare to move to university, a small band of cast and creatives in a tiny theatre in Battersea have been doing the same. With the start of term rapidly approaching, I went to see a developmental production of Halls, a musical looking to tell our story.
Halls follows eight Freshers moving into Flat 15B, a flat in university accommodation at the start of their year. We follow them as their friendships first develop, from the group chat to the pre-moving Facebook stalking, as well as the tensions that come from moving in with other people and living so close to each other. With our Freshers having to deal with relationships, stress, privilege, class, money, and a load of other factors, only time will tell if they’ll all make it through to the end of the year.
I’ve seen many different musicals since first visiting a theatre, and this was my first time seeing a development production (a show that’s still working on its material and staging whilst showing to small, trial audiences). And for a development production, Halls is something truly special. As a university student myself, the story and the content connected with me instantly. So many of the beats the musical covers, I’ve seen in real life. Every single character had two or three people that I’ve met at uni who they’re the spitting image of. The trials and challenges they face are so characteristic of student life but so true to how they are, without feeling like a dramatised impression. This story feels like it’s been plucked straight from any Freshers flat.
The Turbine theatre is a very small venue, with a maximum capacity of 94 and a small stage, which makes the production feel so intimate and personal, which works immensely well with the content. The set was simple and basic, perfectly characteristic of the simple furniture and decoration we all remember from university accommodation. The light and sound design is flawless, switching from cold and imposing to warm throughout the show, just as we all came to love our accommodation as the year went by.
Whilst watching, I kept wondering who the standouts were in the cast. And I found myself changing my mind with every scene and every song, and I’ve concluded that they are all standouts. All eight of our cast play invaluable roles and work together with such charisma yet can portray the awkwardness of moving in with strangers when needed. The songs were beautiful, every single one was magical, and the cast did them justice, not dropping a single note throughout the entire run, and showing the elegant range and talent of these brilliant talents.
This show is a love letter to all of us. To every single person who has found themselves or their home at university, and everyone who ever will. I believe this musical has a strong future ahead of it, and I would love to see it progress to a West End run, or potentially a tour around the major university cities of the country. Whatever its future is, if Halls progresses onto a fully-fledged production (which I am really hoping it does), be sure to go to it, and take your flatmates with you – I promise you, you won’t regret it. With all our new Freshers coming to university for the first time, this musical is a great piece to show that university is a place where you can really make your mark and meet some amazing people!
Rating: ★★★★★
Halls has just finished its developmental run at the Turbine Theatre. For future updates on this production, see @hallsthemusical on Instagram